Oamaru HRC 18 January 2015 – R 6
ID: JCA17700
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 18 January 2015
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2015/01/18
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
The respondent admitted the charge, which is found proved.
Penalty:
The Penalty Guide indicates a 6 drive or $300 starting point. Having regard to the mitigating factors, we believe a 3-day suspension is appropriate. We questioned Mr McCormick as to the meetings he intended to attend and have suspended him from driving at the conclusion of the meeting today up to and including 31 January. This is in effect 3 meetings: Banks Peninsula; Forbury Park; and Geraldine.
Facts:
Mr Ydgren alleged that Mr McCormick, the driver of OUTTA SIGHT used his whip excessively during the concluding stages of race 6, the PORT FM PACE.
Rule 869 states:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Ydgren demonstrated on the videos that Mr McCormick had led into the home straight and had used the whip some 22 or 23 times. The horse finished second beaten a neck with a length back to the third horse. He said there was “no real pause” in the strikes and thus no respite had been given to OUTTA SIGHT. When questioned by the Committee, he said he believed the strikes were consistent and were to the horse.
Mr McCormick said he could offer no excuse for his actions, although he believed the strikes were 60/40 to the horse and the dust cover. He said OUTTA SIGHT had not won for over 2 years and when he realised he had a chance of winning he kept trying to get the best out of the horse. He realised he was pushing the rule to the limit but had not realised until he saw the video that he had gone too far.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren produced the respondent’s record, which evidenced 23 drives this season and 46 last season. There were no breaches in this time. Mr Ydgren said Mr McCormick only had one or two drives at a meeting and he submitted that a 3 or 4 day suspension was appropriate.
Mr McCormick said he had only ever had one breach of this rule in his career and that was some time ago, about 4 or 5 years he thought, when he was a junior driver. He asked us to take this into account plus his admission of the breach.
Reasons for Penalty:
We are satisfied the breach is towards mid-range. The strikes are repetitive, with OUTTA SIGHT being offered very little respite. To our eyes the vast majority of the strikes appeared to be to the horse.
Mr McCormick’s record is excellent. He has admitted the breach and has been very forthright when questioned by the Stipendiary Stewards and before us today.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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Data from these fields should be mapped appropriately to display amongst the standard fields above; please make note of any values below that are missing in the above standard fields but should be there.
hearingid: e0e7f0f983626d38b944f15d31acbb4a
informantnumber: A1454
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 13/01/2015
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 18 January 2015 - R 6
charge:
facts:
Mr Ydgren alleged that Mr McCormick, the driver of OUTTA SIGHT used his whip excessively during the concluding stages of race 6, the PORT FM PACE.
Rule 869 states:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Ydgren demonstrated on the videos that Mr McCormick had led into the home straight and had used the whip some 22 or 23 times. The horse finished second beaten a neck with a length back to the third horse. He said there was “no real pause” in the strikes and thus no respite had been given to OUTTA SIGHT. When questioned by the Committee, he said he believed the strikes were consistent and were to the horse.
Mr McCormick said he could offer no excuse for his actions, although he believed the strikes were 60/40 to the horse and the dust cover. He said OUTTA SIGHT had not won for over 2 years and when he realised he had a chance of winning he kept trying to get the best out of the horse. He realised he was pushing the rule to the limit but had not realised until he saw the video that he had gone too far.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The respondent admitted the charge, which is found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren produced the respondent’s record, which evidenced 23 drives this season and 46 last season. There were no breaches in this time. Mr Ydgren said Mr McCormick only had one or two drives at a meeting and he submitted that a 3 or 4 day suspension was appropriate.
Mr McCormick said he had only ever had one breach of this rule in his career and that was some time ago, about 4 or 5 years he thought, when he was a junior driver. He asked us to take this into account plus his admission of the breach.
reasonsforpenalty:
We are satisfied the breach is towards mid-range. The strikes are repetitive, with OUTTA SIGHT being offered very little respite. To our eyes the vast majority of the strikes appeared to be to the horse.
Mr McCormick’s record is excellent. He has admitted the breach and has been very forthright when questioned by the Stipendiary Stewards and before us today.
penalty:
The Penalty Guide indicates a 6 drive or $300 starting point. Having regard to the mitigating factors, we believe a 3-day suspension is appropriate. We questioned Mr McCormick as to the meetings he intended to attend and have suspended him from driving at the conclusion of the meeting today up to and including 31 January. This is in effect 3 meetings: Banks Peninsula; Forbury Park; and Geraldine.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr L McCormick - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 8b034feec0113d360ef4d90e7c8bcbb4
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 84f387d1241780fefb233875f4d58b66
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 18/01/2015
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 18 January 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: oamaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Oamaru HRC